My Fellow Missourians:

My wife, Marla, and I took off last weekend to celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary in Branson. On the way, I attended the MoDOT Southwest District Winter Legislative Forum in Springfield. This meeting had been rescheduled from a previous cancellation due to icy weather conditions. We were briefed on current winter work being completed since we have not had a lot of snow this winter. Most of MoDOT’s work has been focused on graveling and grading of drives, trimming brush, filling potholes on lettered roads and pipe replacement. The calendar year 2017 construction plans for District 125 are:

Benton County- Missouri Route 7 bridge over the Osage River in Warsaw, with rehabilitation to be staged with one lane of traffic open (near the Old Route 7 Joe Dice Swinging Bridge). Cedar County- Route 39 pavement and sealing between Route 32 in Stockton and Cedar/Dade County line; and Route 32 high friction resurfacing at Route CC south of Filley. Hickory County-Route 54 resurfacing between Route D in Preston and Hickory/Camden County line. St. Clair County-Route D bridge painting over Gallinipper Creek near Lowry City; and Route H bridge painting over Clear Creek south of Taberville.

Transportation funding was discussed, however, not much related legislation is moving this year. One point I found interesting was how much Missourians pay according to MoDOT: “Missourians pay a relatively small amount per month to use the state system of roads and bridges. The average Missouri driver pays about $30 per month in state and federal transportation taxes and fees. That’s far less than what the average Missourian pays for cell phone service, cable television or internet service.”

Legislation this week:

I spoke on the House Floor this week in support of Representative Don Rone’s HB662. This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture, if it determines that any individual has knowingly applied a crop protection product such as a herbicide to a crop for which it was not labeled for use, to assess a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per applied acre. If an individual is a chronic violator, the department has the authority to assess a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per applied acre. Representative Rone is from the Bootheel and brought this bill forward because in southeast Missouri in 2015 and 2016, a small group of farmers used an outdated herbicide, Dicamba, in an illegal manner in order to control weeds because it was more cost effective to risk the administrative fine than to use other approved methods of weed control. Because the product was drifting onto fields not planted with seeds resistant to it, those crops were damaged. At least 150 farmers were impacted by the illegal use of the product. This bill would increase the penalties for misusing a herbicide so that it is no longer the most cost effective alternative.

I presented my HCR15 to the Agriculture Policy Committee. This resolution urges the United States Congress to consider the removal of trade restrictions relating to Cuba and work to restore trade relations between the United States and Cuba. The Missouri Farm Bureau, the Missouri Corn Growers Association, and Greg Yielding of the Missouri Rice Council all testified in favor of this legislation.

Veterans invited:

Missouri Vietnam Veterans Day is Thursday, March 30. In recognition of those who served in this conflict, Vietnam Veterans are invited to the Capitol on this day for a special ceremony and presentation to be followed by a formal recognition at the start of session in the House Chamber. If you are able to attend, please call our office at 573-751-4065 for special arrangements. The House of Representatives and I would be honored by your presence.

Town Hall meetings scheduled:

The General Assembly will not be in session March 20-24. I will be in the district that week and have scheduled several town hall meetings. I welcome everyone to attend to share input and concerns regarding this year’s legislation.

Monday, March 20, 9 a.m., St. Clair County Main Library, 115 Chestnut Street, Osceola

Monday, March 20, 1 p.m., El Dorado Springs City Hall

Wednesday, March 22, 9 a.m., Hickory County Library, 99 New Hermitage Drive, Hermitage

Wednesday, March 22, 1 p.m., Boonslick Regional Library, 102 E. Jackson Street, Warsaw.